On Thursday, the much-anticipated teaser trailer for the Super Mario Bros. Movie was released, and fans, as you might expect, had a variety of reactions to hearing celebrity actors voicing the roles of legendary video game characters. Jack Black yelled as Bowser (he’s going to be amazing), and Keegan-Michael Key mumbled as Toad at the audition. But everyone’s attention was focused on Chris Pratt’s performance as Mario, the overalls-wearing plumber who is arguably the most recognizable character in the history of video games.
The face looked great — very alive Mario always wears his trademarks, including his mustache, his red cap, and his denim overalls. But when fans finally got to hear Pratt speak (he barely said anything) in Mario’s voice, it sounded like Pratt, even if he barely said anything. It is obvious that he was not going to use the exaggerated Italian stereotypical voice that is so commonly associated with Mario, but might he do something else instead? Listen to the excitement of voice actor Charles Martinet’s performance as Mario from video games. Someone mentioned in the comments section of the video on YouTube that Martinet had “Robin Williams energy,” that Mario is in desperate need of someone with that type of personality.